The worst mass shootings in modern US history

  • USA
  • World

At least 50 people have been killed and more than 200 injured after a gunman opened fire at an open air concert in Las Vegas.

It is the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history and the death toll is expected to rise.

Here is a list of some of the worst mass shootings in America since 1949 (the death of the shooter/s if killed or took their own life is not included in the total):

  • Pulse nightclub, Orlando - 49 killed

In June 2016, 49 people were killed after lone gunman Omar Mateen opened fire in a gay club in Orlando, Florida.

Fifty-eight people were also injured.

So-called Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack but investigators found no clear evidence Mateen was directed by the terror group.

The attack took place at Pulse nightclub in Florida. Credit: AP

  • Virginia Tech massacre - 32 killed

On April 16, 2007, student Seung Hui Choi, killed 32 people and wounded 17 others, before killing himself on the campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia.

  • Sandy Hook Elementary School - 26 killed

The murder of 26 people, including 20 children, at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012, sent shock-waves across America and beyond.

Then US President Barack Obama was unable to hold back tears as he spoke about the youngest victims of the Sandy Hook shootings while speaking about measures to reduce gun violence.

Barack Obama was visibly affected by the Sandy Hook school shooting. Credit: AP

  • Luby's Cafeteria, Texas - 23 killed

In 1991, George Hennard opened fire at a cafe in Killen, Texas, killing 23 people. He then killed himself.

Hennard drove a pick-up truck into the cafe before opening fire. Credit: AP

  • McDonald's, California - 21 killed

In 1984, 21 people were killed in a McDonald's in San Ysidro, California by an out-of work security guard called James Huberty. He was later killed by police.

  • San Bernardino, Calfornia - 14 killed

In December 2015, 14 people were killed when Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik opened fire at an office party in San Bernardino, California.

The married couple were said to have been radicalised "for quite some time" before the deadly attack.

Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik Credit: FBI

  • Columbine shooting, Colorado - 13 killed

On April 20, 1999, 18-year-old Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold opened fire at Columbine High School in Colorado, killing 12 classmates and a policeman before themselves.

Twenty-four other people were injured.

The shooting led to a renewed focus on gun violence and prompted Michael Moore's Oscar-winning documentary Bowling for Columbine.

Eric Harris, left, and Dylan Klebold were caught on CCTV as they carried out their attack. Credit: AP

  • Post office shooting, Oklahoma - 14 killed

In 1986, 14 people people were shot by Pat Sherrill inside a post office in Edmond, Oklahoma.

  • Fort Hood, Texas - 13 killed

Army psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hasan killed 13 people and injured 32 at military base Fort Hood, Texas, during a shooting rampage in November 2009.

Hasan carried out the shooting just days before he was to be deployed to Afghanistan and said it was in protest of what he called a US war on Islam.

He was convicted and sentenced to death.

Soldiers hold a candlelight vigil at Fort Hood for victims of the attack in 2009. Credit: AP

  • Aurora cinema shooting - 12 killed

At least 12 people were killed and 58 injured when James Holmes carried out an attack at a cinema in Aurora, Colorado.

He released a canister of gas and then opened fire during the opening night of the Batman movie The Dark Knight Rises in 2012.

Holmes plead not guilty by reason of insanity but was convicted of murder in 2015 and sentenced to life in prison.

James Holmes' lawyers argued that he had a 'psychotic episode' at the time of the attack. Credit: AP

  • US shooting sprees go back decades

The trend of deadly shooting sprees in the United States stretches back decades.

In 1966, sixteen people were killed and more than 30 wounded during a 96-minute rifle rampage by student Charles Whitman at the University of Texas in Austin.

Ten years later in 1976, seven people were killed in the library of California State University, Fullerton.

In 1949, 28-year-old Howard Unruh, carried out one of America's most infamous mass shootings, killing 13 people, three of them children, in Camden, New Jersey.

The World War II veteran was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and committed to a state mental institution. He died at the age of 88 in 2009.